Proposition D calls for outsourcing rule book

Critics say the measure requires no follow through for sales tax to take effect

The services expected to be put up for bid first include landscaping, vehicle maintenance, facility upkeep, printing and trash pickup.

CLAIM: DeMaio says the guide fails to account for certain city pension payments in weighing proposals by employee groups. “They literally think taxpayers are too stupid to figure out what’s going on. ... What’s the biggest cost right now in city government? Unfunded pensions,” DeMaio said.

ANALYSIS: Current city costs for employee benefits — including retirement contributions — would be counted as part of employee group proposals. The guide doesn’t count the cost of payments the city is making to close the gap in its pension fund left by years of underfunding it.

That pension deficit is largely a cost the city would have to pay regardless of whether it contracts out a particular service. But the city would see a slight reduction in its deficit through outsourcing because displaced city workers would stop accruing pensions.